MS. WALTER GOES TO WASHINGTON
Sarah Walter likes to be involved.
Soon after arriving at Iowa State in 2002, she joined Iowa State’s Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) student chapter and immediately got involved helping to design, build, and race mini-baja cars (four-wheeled off-road vehicles) in intercollegiate competition. As a freshman, the mechanical engineering major from Illinois became the first female co-captain of an ISU mini-baja team.
While Walter has been active in many engineering organizations at Iowa State, her leadership activities extend across the university. She served as a senator in the Government of the Student Body (GSB) and as director of student diversity for GSB. As the student diversity director, she worked to help minority, international, and nontraditional students feel welcome on campus and to facilitate interactions with GSB so all students would have a voice in student government.
This past summer, Walter took her involvement to a new level. One of eight students selected from across the United States to participate in the Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) program, she spent nine weeks in Washington D.C. learning how engineers can have a voice in the federal government.
Students apply for WISE through professional engineering societies that fund the program with support from the National Science Foundation and the American Association of Engineering Societies. The internship provides an in-depth look at how policy issues develop into laws and the role engineers play in the political process. Each intern researches a self-selected topic and writes a comprehensive policy paper.
Walter, who was sponsored by SAE, did her research on corn ethanol as an alternative fuel for automotives. She visited with industry representatives from Toyota, GM, Ford, and Daimler Chrysler; met with members of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Transportation; and conducted many interviews with ethanol supporters on Capitol Hill. Walter’s paper will be published in the SAE Technical Paper Series during the 2006 World Congress.
The July 29 passage of the first major energy bill since 1992 made this summer an opportune time for Walter to be in the nation’s capital. “It was a very exciting time in D.C.,” she says. “This energy bill supports the use of ethanol in gasoline, yet puts no restrictions on how much. I think it’s a step in the right direction.”
The lack of infrastructure, such as refueling stations to dispense E-85 and flexible fuel vehicles to burn it, prevents using ethanol more regularly as an alternative fuel, according to Walter. “However,” she says, “by requiring an increase in the use of ethanol as an additive, we will cut down on our use of foreign oil. In addition, the environment will benefit from reduced emissions and the increased market for corn will create more jobs, which will be great for the Midwest economy.”
The WISE interns, who come with chemical, electrical, mechanical, biomedical, and nuclear engineering backgrounds, met as a group with representatives from many government agencies. The DOE assistant secretary, for example, talked about the policy side of the DOE, and the president of the National Academy of Engineers gave his perspective on the current state of engineering in our nation and the way Congress deals with advice from engineers and scientists.
“This summer has been a wonderful experience,” says Walter. “Congress makes decisions that affect everyone. Our legislators and senators rely on the expertise of engineers and scientists to make informed decisions on technical issues. If we are not engaged in policy making, where will that information come from?” she asks.
After completing a fall co-op at Rolls Royce in Indianapolis, Walter will be back on campus to share her WISE internship experiences with her peers at Iowa State. “What happens in Washington D.C. affects all of us,” she says. “We have to be engaged.”
